Armenian enlightenments

The employees of your favorite newspaper have rarely been accommodated in such an original way on their annual research trip abroad as in Yerevan: on an animal farm - without oppressor pigs, however - in the city. Lots of ducks and chickens in a large enclosure, with a rooster that reliably ensured that you didn't sleep through the early hours of the morning. Two dogs, one big and one small. And cats with lots of kittens, especially some white cats with two different eye colors and a completely uncatlike preference: They are not afraid of water, quite the opposite, but like to swim and catch fish. They are known by the name Vankatze, after Lake Van, which - like the former Armenian national mountain Ararat - used to be in Armenia, which was slightly larger at the time, but is now in Turkey.

The owner of the house, Parujr Hajrikjan, a courageous former dissident known far and wide, with 13 years of Soviet prison and camp imprisonment under his belt and a hearty handshake, takes care of all the animals.

The best way to get from the animal farm to the city center is to take a local Uber car, which is very affordable if you use it with several people. Small disadvantage: you're stuck in traffic in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening. 

The city center shines with all kinds of works of art, not only on the cascade, a huge staircase with almost 600 steps, where an American patron had an art exhibition installed, but also in the other streets. 

At the foot of the cascade there is a monument to the architect Alexander Tamanjan, who designed the general plan for Yerevan in 1924 and wanted to combine early modernity with architectural tradition. 

Many buildings in the city are made of tuff, an easy-to-work volcanic rock that comes in a variety of colors, from orange to red to brown and black. Hence the cliché of Yerevan as a “pink city”. Above everything, the monumental “Mother Armenia” towers on a hill, martially with a sword in her hand; Since 1967 it has replaced a Stalin statue that was dismantled in 1962 on the previously existing base. Because an incredible number of Armenians live and work abroad, we are regularly addressed in a friendly manner. “We heard you speaking German, where are you from?” Once it was a real celebrity who contacted us like this: the former 18-time boxing world champion Arthur Abraham.

Plenty of seating a.k.a. ensures quality of life in the city. Benches and especially small drinking fountains, not to be despised given the temperatures, which peak at around 30 degrees every day, even in September. In general, the water: It is of excellent quality, mostly comes from underground mountain springs and tastes super fresh. While there are plenty of green parks in the capital, things are a little different outside. Stony, barely overgrown yellow mountains dominate, many of which are of volcanic origin, some of which have produced bizarre rock formations.

But in the valleys the soil is generally fertile and the agricultural products taste great: tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs of all kinds, juicy peaches and apricots, the latter also known as “Armenian plums”. 

Essentially, important inventions of humanity seem to come from Armenia: a wine press was found in the cave of Areni, which researchers date to around 4,000 years before our era; The first completely preserved leather shoe was found there, dating back to around 3,500 BC. C.E. is dated. Armenia is also considered the first country in which Christianity became the state religion: in 301 by King Tiridates III, who was helped to heavenly light by the missionary Gregory the Illuminator. For more mundane enlightenment, the excellent Armenian brandy, formerly known as Armenian cognac, is also available in extravagant bottles.